official journals of the member states of the european union
Transkript
official journals of the member states of the european union
OFFICIAL JOURNALS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION OFFICIAL JOURNALS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION MAGYAR HIVATALOS KÖZLÖNYKIADÓ BUDAPEST, 2004 Editors: Dr. Cecília Ivancsics Dr. Béla Pusztai ISBN 963 9221 58 9 Published by Magyar Hivatalos Közlönykiadó Responsible publisher: Dr. László Kodela Director General Press: Magyar Hivatalos Közlönykiadó Lajosmizsei Nyomdája – 04.1787 Responsible Director: Norbert Burján Published in 10,3 (A/5) printed sheet size CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................ 7 Acknowledgement ................................................... 9 Official Journal of the European Union .................. 11 Austria..................................................................... 13 Belgium ................................................................... 15 Cyprus .................................................................... 17 Czech Republic ....................................................... 19 Denmark ................................................................. 21 Estonia .................................................................... 23 Finland.................................................................... 25 France ..................................................................... 29 Germany ................................................................. 31 Greece..................................................................... 35 Hungary .................................................................. 39 Ireland..................................................................... 43 Italy......................................................................... 45 Latvia ...................................................................... 47 Lithuania ................................................................. 49 Luxemburg.............................................................. 51 Malta ...................................................................... 53 Poland ..................................................................... 55 Portugal................................................................... 59 Slovakia................................................................... 61 Slovenia................................................................... 63 Spain ....................................................................... 65 Sweden.................................................................... 67 The Netherlands ..................................................... 69 United Kingdom...................................................... 71 Appendix ................................................................ 73 5 FOREWORD Our Publishing House took on the huge task to prepare a comprehensive review of the Official Journals of the European Union, as well as of the publishing practice of Statutory Instruments in each member country. Our objective was to prepare a background material for an Act on the Operation of the Publishing House which shall hopefully be introduced in the near future in Hungary. However, our job has been more complex. With the accession to the European Union we have become part of a larger community, what is postulating close connections with the Official Publishing Houses of the other member states and the Official Journal of the Union. Our mutual tasks and similar endeavours require the same. The Publishing Houses of the legal acts of each country have special status. One evidence of this will be the establishment of the Forum of the Official Journals of the European Union in Vienna in September 2004. Our Publishing House supports the work of this organisation enthusiastically and–as a manifestation of this–we would like to offer this publication, which could not have been completed without the significant help and contribution of our partner institutions. We had the active, ongoing support of the Official Journal of the European Union throughout our work. Last but not least, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the heads and staff of the Publishing Houses. This volume may be the starting point of a long-lasting and successful co-operation among the Official Publishers of the European Union. It may be considered as a starting point also in respect that the publication reflects the conditions of April 2004. According to our intentions and those of the participating countries it can be supplemented, extended or elaborated further to meet any possible demands at any time. Our Publisher would be pleased to take up the responsibility of carrying on this work. Budapest, April 2004. Dr. László Kodela Director General 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to express our special thanks to Albrecht Berger, Official Journal of the EU; Karl Schiessl, Andrea Müllner, Wiener Zeitung; Albert Van Damme, Wilfried Verrezen, Moniteur Belge; Christos Demetriades, State Gazette of Cyprus; Jiri Kauczky, Sbírka Zákonù; Nina Koch, Lovtidende; Marika Seppius, Riigi Teataja; Arja-Hannele Lilja, Suomen Säädöskokoelma; Jean-Paul Bolufer, Joëlle Kauffmann, Journal Officiel; Rainer Diesem, Michael Hecker, Bundesanzeiger; Vasiliki Tsimpida, State Gazette of Greece; Fintan Butler, Iris Oifigiúil; dr. Francesco Nocita, Gazzetta Ufficiale; Ints Kalnins, Latvijas Ve-stnesis; Mintautas Daulenskis, Valstybe·s inios; Daniel Andrich, Memorial; Emanuel Abela, The Malta Government Gazette; Marius Lachowski, Dziennik Ustaw; João Esteves Pinto, António Braz Teixeira, Diário da República; Jan Svák, Zbierka zákonov; Erika Trojer, Uradni list; Julio Seage, Boletín Oficial del Estado; Thomas Rolén, Per-Anders Svensson, Svensk Författningssamling; Medard O. D. Scholten, Staatsblad. 9 OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION The Office for Official Publications of the European Communities is the Publishing House of the institutions and other bodies of the European Union. It is responsible for producing and distributing EU publication via all media and by all means. The Publications Office, whose current organisation and operation are laid down by an interinstitutional agreement, is governed by a Management Committee, in which each institution is represented by its Secretary-General. As a Publisher, the Office has a duty to offer the highest-quality service to its customers –the originating departments of the institutions and other bodies of the European Union– and to its public–the citizens of the European Union and people througout the world who are interested in European affairs. At present the Office publishes the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) daily in the 20 official languages of the Community. It consists of two related series (L for legislation and C for information and notices) and a supplement (S for public tenders). The L series contains EU legislation, including regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations, opinions. In addition, the Directory of Community legislation in force is published as a part of the OJ L series. The directory lists references to the initial texts and to any subsequent amendments. The C series contain EU information and notices, including summaries of decisions of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance, minutes of parliamentary meetings, reports of the Court of Auditors, parliamentary written questions and answers from the Council or Commission, statements from the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions, competition notices for recruitment by the EU institutions, and other document published pursuant to Community legislation. The S series are the supplement to the OJ containing invitations to tender. They are published in two electronic formats (on- and off-line). The EU-Lex portal offers an integrated access to legal texts that can be found in the Celex, EUR-Lex and Court of Justice’s CURIA web sites. The Office assists the institutions and other bodies of the European Union in their efforts to enhance the transparency of the legislative process and the European policies and to facilitate access to the entire body of European legislation and information–published above all in the C series of the O–with the aim of bringing the Union closer to its citizens. 11 AUSTRIA There are two main official journals in Austria on federal level: one is the Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Journal), the other one, the Wiener Zeitung, contains most of the publications, which have to be published by the courts in the Firmenbuch (Commercial Register), on the one hand, and by private companies (e.g. balance sheets of corporations above a certain size), on the other hand. This year Austria underwent a general reform of the publication of laws. Up to this time the Bundesgesetzblattgesetz (Federal Law Journal) determined the printing in the Bundesgesetzblatt as the sole authentic way of publication. As of January 1, 2004, federal laws must be published authentically on the Internet. Hence, the Bundesgesetzblatt will only be printed on customer’s demand. The Publishing House, Wiener Zeitung GmbH is incorporated as a Limited Company owned by the Austrian Republic, represented by the Federal Chancellor. At the present, the publication of laws is financed by the purchasers of the Bundesgesetzblatt. In the future, publication on the Internet will be carried out and financed directly by the Austrian Government. There are 3 divisions in the Bundesgesetzblatt: – I. Federal Laws – II. Ministerial Decrees – III. Treaties Public procurement tenders on federal level are published by the Wiener Zeitung both in printed form and on the Internet. Besides the Wiener Zeitung, there are 9 regional official journals (each one published by one of the nine states of Austria), which publish public procurement tenders on states’level. If a project is financed or co-financed from federal budget resources, the relevant public procurement tender has to be published in the Wiener Zeitung. Court decisions of public interest are published in separate publications by other printing houses. Parliamentary debate materials have been published by the Wiener Zeitung GmbH until May, 2003. Since then, these materials are published by the Administration of the Austrian Parliament on the Internet. The two official publications of the company–Wiener Zeitung and the Bundesgesetzblatt–can be bought both by subscription and also as a single. As the Wiener Zeitung is a daily newspaper, as well, it is available all over Austria. The invoicing for advertisements and subscriptions is carried out by the staff off the company. Delivery of the official journals is mainly done by the official post-service, but more and more private distributors are drawn into this work. During the last years the portion of the free distribution was reduced to 5 percent per day. There is an on-line connection between the Federal Chancellery and the Publishing House. The company receives more and more of the legal texts to be published electronically, but it has still to face other versions. The Publishing House receives the texts mostly at least one week before the publication, but in an urgent case this period is reduced to 2-3 days. The printing procedure of the two official journals is done by two external printing houses. All work of preparation for printing (editing, structuring, proofreading) is carried out by the staff of the Publishing House. In the future this work will be done by the Ministries and the Parliament themselves. The Wiener Zeitung GmbH entered into negotiations with the Ministries about a future service of the company, as at the moment the Ministries are lacking the necessary and experienced staff. 13 BELGIUM In Belgium–according to the Constitution–a law may be enforced only if it has been published in the Belgian Official Gazette. Various legal acts regulate the publication in the Gazette and in some cases provisions are made for a number of technical aspects relating to its form (e.g. French and Dutch versions appear opposite each other). The most important regulations are Articles 472–478 of the “Programme Law”. Despite the country’s federal structure, legislation is published on a centralised level. The Gazette publishes the legislation and regulations of federal authorities, regions and communities. The three paper copies are printed on the basis of the electronic files made available on the Internet. Distribution is carried out via Internet. Files may be used free of charge and there is no copyright. Paper copies can be ordered on demand. The Belgian Official Journal Publisher is part of the Department of Justice, so it is 100% public institution without autonomy. The Gazette is financed by the Government. The revenues are transferred back to the Public Treasury. The revenues come mainly from private and non-profit companies who have to pay for the publication of their acts in one of the Gazette’s Annexes. The federal authorities, communities and regions have to publish in the Official Gazette. Provinces and local communities have their own publications. Public procurement tenders are published by the Gazette in a publication called “Bulletin des Adjudications – Bulletin der Aanbestedigen”. Court decisions are mainly published by private companies. Some decisions of the “Cour d’arbitrage” are published in the Gazette. The Department of Justice has a Juridat portal. The courts can use this portal to publish directly their decisions on the Internet, but they are not obliged to do that. Parliamentary debate materials are published by the seven Parliaments. Only 3 paper copies are printed in the Department of Justice. Distribution to the public is made by using PDF files available free of charge on the website of the Department. The Publisher has a database, called Justel, which also contains consolidated versions of legal acts. This database is not complete, has no legal value and is, at present, updated about 4 months after the publication of the legal text in the Official Gazette. Many Departments and some private editors do similar consolidation. Legal texts to be published are transmitted to the Publisher in electronic and in printed form, as well. Period before publication depends on the wishes of the responsible Department and on the volume and complexity. Due to Internet distribution the text can be published within 2 hours. Proofreading is usually carried out by the client. The Publisher does the complete prepress phase, produces the 3 paper copies and charges the Internet database. Summaries of the Official Journal of the EU are published in the Gazette. Most of the Belgian legislation exists in French and Dutch and some of it in German (the 3 official languages). 15 CYPRUS The publication of laws in Cyprus is regulated by the Article 52 of the Constitution and by the Article 43 of the Interpretation Law Cap. 1. The Printing Office of the Republic of Cyprus is a Government Department under the Ministry of Finance. The budget of the Office is included in the main budget of the Government. The Office itself earns a considerable income out of the selling of publications as well as from various other resources which are forwarded to the State budget. The laws and ministerial and main authority acts are published in the Official Gazette in separate parts and sections. Public Procurement tenders are published in the Official Gazette. The Court decisions are published by the Supreme Court and printed in the Printing Office. Some of them are also printed in the private sector. All the editions are sold by the Publications Department of the Printing Office. The parliamentary debate materials are printed by the Printing Office in separate volumes. All the official publications are distributed through the Publications Department of the Printing Office to the subscribers. They are also sold as single at the Department. The role of the free distribution is to inform the International Organizations about Cyprus. The legal texts to be published arrive to the Printing Office by mail, fax or in printed form. The minimum period the Office receives the texts is three days in advance. The Office has a modern complex of printing establishment equipped with modern machinery. All the procedures of editing, proofreading and structuring are carried out by the experienced staff of the Office. The legislation of Cyprus is partly translated into English. 17 CZECH REPUBLIC The publication of legal acts is regulated by Act No. 309/1999 Coll., on the Collection of Statutes and on the Collection of International Agreements. The Ministry of Interior is the publisher of the Collection of Statutes and of the Collection of International Agreements. Pursuant to Act No. 309/1999 Coll. the Ministry of Interior ensures editing, printing, publishing and distribution of these Collections. If the text concerned is short (max.10 pages) the Ministry itself is able to print it. If the text is longer the printing is ensured through a contractor (Moraviapress) that provides the distribution, as well. The publication of the Collections is financed by the subscriptions, if they are not sufficient, the difference is financed from the state budget. In accordance with Act No. 309/1999 Coll. the legislation in force (i.e. acts and implementing regulations) is promulgated in the Collection of Statutes. International agreements, other matters of facts important for their execution and decisions of international authorities and organisations are promulgated in the Collection of International Agreements. Pursuant to commercial law, public procurement tenders are published in the Commercial Bulletin. Decisions and Announcements of the Constitutional Court are published in compliance with the Act on Constitutional Court in the Collection of Statutes. Decisions of other Courts are published in the Collection of Decisions and Standpoints. The parliamentary debate materials are published as so-called chamber-presses and they are available on the website of the Parliament. The distribution of the Collections is carried out by contractors. The Collections can be bought by subscription and also as single. The Ministry of Interior has a competence to create drafts of law and also to publish acts in force. Plain texts are usually sent by mail to the Ministry. The period between delivery and publishing is various, it depends on the difficulty of the proofreading (volume, content etc.) and on the urgency of publication. According to law an act has to be published at the latest 30 days after its arrival in the Ministry. The Ministry itself does all the editorial works. If a legal text to be published is short (max.10 pages), the Ministry carries out the printing. If the text is longer the printing is ensured through a contractor. In respect of national legislation, translations of certain significant acts are available in the Government’s sites. 19 DENMARK The publication of legislation in Denmark is done under the authority of Lovtidendeloven (Law on Lovtidende) from 1991. This Act contains the general provisions in the field of publication of Danish Acts, Statutory Orders and Regulations, Circulars and Ministerial Rules of Guidance. There are two official journals in Denmark. All Acts and Statutory Orders are published in the official journal Lovtidende, while Ministerial Circulars and Ministerial Rules of Guidance are published in the official journal Ministerialtidende. All documents published in the two journals–as well as a wide range of other relevant official documents– are accessible in the official online legal information system Retsinformation (Legal Information). The Danish official journals are published by the Secretariat for Legal Information which is a directorate under the Danish Ministry of Justice. The publishing of the journals and also the edition and maintenance of the online system and the belonging databases are solely financed from the annual governmental budget. Lovtidende is divided into three parts: Lovtidende A – Acts and Statutory Orders Lovtidende B – Budget Lovtidende C – All Treaties, Conventions and other International Agreements Lovtidende A is published regularly twice every week and on the day after the Royal Assent of an Act passed by the Parliament. Lovtidende B is usually printed app. three times every year whereas. Lovtidende C is published app. ten to twelve times a year. The printed version of Lovtidende is still the official publication of Acts and Statutory Orders whereas the publication of Ministerialtidende is done electronically since 1 January, 1998. It is still, however, printed once a month. Public procurement tenders are not published in the official journals. Court decisions are published in the Danish Weekly Law Reports. Retsinformation also contains bills and other documents about the legislative process in the Parliament: debates, parliamentary resolutions and proposals for resolutions, including the motives for the proposals. Retsinformation contains Statements of the Danish Ombudsman and administrative decisions of precedent character. Access to the databases is free of charge. The distribution of the journals is done by subscription. The consolidated version of legal acts is prepared by the relevant Ministry. The Secretariat for Legal Information does, however, check if the consolidated act complies with certain general provisions as a part of the proofreading on legal aspects performed by the Secretariat concerning ministerial documents, whereas the proofreading on legal aspects conserning bills is done by the Law Department in the Ministry of Justice. In general, the documents arrive by mail, fax or as pdf. files to the Secretariat. Deadline is always one week before publication except for certain urgent cases. New acts and other documents receiving the Royal Assent are, however, printed on the day of the Royal Assent and delivered to the subscribers the following day. This is also the procedure to be followed if urgent publication of Statutory Orders is needed. The printing of the official journals is carried out by a private Printing House pursuant to a general contract between the company and the Government. The two official journals and Retsinformation are published and edited by the Secretariat for Legal Information. Proofreading of the documents concerning legal aspects of the text is done by the Ministry of Justice (Bills) and by the Secretariat for Legal Information (Statutory Orders, Circulars, Rules of Guidance). Translations of some Acts of great importance can be found on the homepage of the relevant Ministry. 21 ESTONIA According to the Estonian Constitution, a law enters into force after their publication in Riigi Teataja (State Gazette). In Estonia a separate act regulates the publication of legislation, Riigi Teataja Seadus (Act on Riigi Teataja). State Gazette has two forms, an electronic and a printed version. Both publications are identical and official (the electronic database exists since 1 June, 2002). Riigi Teataja Kirjastus (State Gazette Publisher) is a state institution subordinated to State Chancellery. State Gazette is published from budget resources, a part of the costs are, however, covered from the profits of publication. According to the Act on the State Gazette legal acts and other documents are classified in the different parts of State Gazette. The general division is as follows: Part I – Legislation of the Parliament, the President of Republic and the Government Part II – International Agreements and other legislation and notices concerning foreign relations Part III – Decisions of the Supreme Court Appendix – Regulations of Ministries, Government Prescriptions, Prescriptions of the Prime Minister Legal acts of public importance of local governments are published only on the Internet. Public procurement tenders are published by Riigihangete Amet (Public Procurement Office). State bodies are required to publish information about their public procurements on their websites. Decisions of the Supreme Court are published in the Gazette – Part III. Parliamentary debate materials are published by the Parliament Chancellery on the Internet. Electronic State Gazette is free to use for everybody. Subscription, ordering and distribution of the printed version are carried out by the channels of distributing periodicals. Prices of single sale and subscription are fixed for every year by the state secretary. Free copies are distributed to state libraries and local governments. This practice may be revised as eRT distributes legal acts free on the Internet. One part of eRT is the database of consolidated legal acts that contains consolidated texts of laws, of legal acts of the Government and the Ministries. The electronic database started on 1 June, 2002. A consolidated text is composed after the publication of an amendment of a legal act. Legal texts are transmitted to the Publisher for publication in electronic and in printed form. Pursuant to law, the deadline to publish laws is seven working days, for other legal acts ten working days. There is an online connection to the Publisher through which legal texts can be transmitted. The Publisher has two departments. Technical check and the distribution of legal acts between the different parts of State Gazette is carried out by the editorial department. The other department is responsible for printing. The translation of national legislation is carried out by a State governed institution. 23 FINLAND Finland has an Act concerning The Statutes of Finland (Act on The Statutes of Finland 188/2000). The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the publication and distribution of The Statutes of Finland. In this respect, the Ministry co-operates with the Parliament, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, so that the needs of the various parties pertaining to the publication of The Statutes of Finland and the Treaty Series are taken appropriately into account. The Ministry of Justice may delegate practical tasks relating to the publication and distribution of The Statutes of Finland to other State authorities, institutions or companies, private individuals, corporations or foundations. The Publishing House of the Official Journal of Finland is an Ltd. Edita Publishing Ltd. was previously a part of the Government Printing House. The printing house was turned into a corporation about 10 years ago and the publishing house was established and separated from the printing activities in 2002. At the moment the Finnish government is the sole owner of the company. It is likely that at least a part of the ownership is going to be privatised in the future. The publication of The Statutes of Finland is financed from business venture (notifications, subscription fees). The following statutes are published in The Statutes of Finland: – Acts of the Parliament, – The Rules of Procedure of Parliament and the other rules and instructions adopted by the Parliament in plenary session for the organisation of parliamentary work or for the bodies elected by the Parliament, – Decrees of the President of the Republic and of the Government, – Decrees of Ministries, unless otherwise stated by law, – Parliamentary decisions on state finances are also published in The Statutes of Finland. For a special reason, a Ministry may decide that a Decree of the Ministry, with little significance to the public at large, will be published in the Ministry’s norm collection instead of The Statutes of Finland. The orders of other State authorities shall be published in the norm collection of the authority in question. The Statutes of Finland series has a separate part (Treaty Series) for the publication of treaties and other corresponding instruments containing international obligations binding on Finland. Besides The Statutes of Finland, there is an Official Gazette in Finland. According to law various legal issues are to be published in this Gazette: fusions and other legal acts of registered companies, bankruptcies etc. The public procurement tenders are published in the Public Procurement Magazine. This Magazine is also published by the Edita Publishing Ltd. The Publishing House won the right of publication by tender published by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The court decisions are published by the courts. The decisions are also available in various commercial databases, for example in Edita’s own Edilex-service. Parliamentary debate materials are published in abstracts by the Prime Minister’s Office in the Official Gazette under the title “Parliament’s” week and “Council of State’s week”. The Statutes of Finland can be subscribed as printed bulletin and it is also kept available to the public on an information network free of charge. The network is maintained by the Ministry of Justice. The Official Gazette and the Public Procurement Magazine can also be subscribed as printed bulletins and they are also available in the electronic database of the publisher. The preceding issues can be found free of charge in the database. 25 The acts in force are available in the Edilex-database of the Publishing House. The legal texts are transmitted to the Printing house online from the ministries and various authorities. The minimum period before the publishing is three days. The authority in question takes care of structuring, proofreading etc. of the legal texts and transfers them ready for printing and electronic publishing to the printing house. The notifications in Official Gazette and in the Public Procurement Magazine are edited and proofread by the editorial staff of the Publishing House. Since 2002 printing activities have been separated from the Publishing House. Finnish legislation is always published in both official languages of Finland (Finnish and Swedish). The Ministry of Justice takes care of the translation of certain statutes into English and occasionally into French. If a treaty is not authentic in either its Finnish or Swedish version, it must be published in at least one authentic language. 26 FRANCE The publication of legal acts in France is regulated by the Decree of 20th February, 2004 on the “Promulgation of Laws and Decrees Published in the Journal officiel de la Republique française”. The “Journal officiel de la Republique française” is published by the Directorate of the Official Journal which is subordinate to the Prime Minister’s Services and carries out its activity under the Secrétariat général du gouvernement’s authority. The Publishing House is an anonymous open stock company. The publication of the Official Journal is financed from budget resources. The laws and decrees are published in the daily edition of the Official Journal. These legal texts are completed by our Official Bulletins: – BODACC (Bulletin officiel des Annonces civiles et commerciales): Bulletin of Declarations of Enterprices – BOAMP (Bulletin des Annonces de marchés publics): Bulletin of Public Procurement tenders – BALO (Bulletin des Annonces légales) Bulletin of Legal Notices publishes all the firms quoted on the Stock Exchange – Journal officiel des Associations: Official Journal of Associations All these bulletins are available both in paper edition and via Internet. The ministries have their own official bulletins. The Directorate publishes 40 periodicals. The publication of court decisions is proposed by the President of each Court. The Bulletin of Decisions of Criminal Court and the Bulletin of Decisions of Civil Court are published by the Official Journal. The desicions of the Council of State and of the Constitutional Council are published daily by the Official Journal. The annual report of cases before the Court are published by private editors. Debates and questions of the Assemblée nationale and Sénat are published by the Official Journal, as stipulated by the Constitution. From the year 2004, these texts will be composed by the Services of the Assemblée nationale and Sénat and they are also available on their websites. The texts are electronically transmitted to the Official Journal. Access to the legal database via Internet is free of charge. The distribution of the 40 periodicals is done by subscription, but they are also available as single in the bookshops of the Official Journal or can be ordered via the distribution network. Legifrance is a legal database and operates free of charge. It was launched 16 September, 2002. It provides access to the Constitution, codes, laws, regulations, collective agreements, international treaties, European law, national, international and European reports of cases before the Court and some other official publications. The Official Journal’s main obligation is to publish the daily edition of the Official Journal. The Official Journal has to check the legal texts (dates, signatures, form, conformability, etc.) and supervises all the operations until the printing of the Official Journal. The Official Journal has its own Printing House: “Société anonyme de composition et d’impression des Journaux officiels” which has the status of workers’cooperative. It provides the printing work for the Government. However, about 20% of the printing work is made by external firms, especially the photocomposition, though all editorial work is done by the Official Journal. The Official Journal is a distributor of the publications published by the Office for the Official Publications of the EU. The free online service “Legifrance” provides a link to the legal database of the EU. The most current codes are translated into English and Spanish and are available on the Internet. 29 GERMANY In Germany there are two main official journals on federal level: one is the Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Journal), the other is the Bundesanzeiger which contains an official and an inofficial part with proclamations prescribed by law and various further publications of companies and courts, as well as an overview about the state of legislation. According to the German Constitution laws and regulations on federal level enter into force after their publication in the Bundesgesetzblatt. The printed version of the Bundesgesetzblatt is the sole authentic one and it is published by the Federal Ministry of Justice through the Bundesanzeiger Publisher. The Publishing House is a limited liability company. The owner of the company is in 35.5% the Federal Republic of Germany represented through the Federal Ministry of Justice. The remaining shares are divided into equal halves belonging to two publishing houses. The registered office of the company is in Köln where the Bundesanzeiger and the Bundesgesetzblatt are produced. A small office in Limburg cares for all questions and replies in terms of customs and tax affairs. The Bundesanzeiger is mainly financed from the payments for the publication of various documents of the companies prescribed by law. The Bundesgesetzblatt can be bought by subscription and is sold by retail. It is financed from these revenues. The Bundesgesetzblatt is divided into two parts: Part I. – Acts of the Parliament, certain decisions by the Constitutional Court prescribed by law, certain publications of internal affairs of the Bundestag and Bundesrat. Part II. – Publication of international treaties and other corresponding instrument containing international obligations binding on Germany, regulations related to the enforcement of the treaties and regulations in the field of customs. The Bundesanzeiger can be obtained in four editions: There is a basic edition (Stammausgabe) with the above mentioned publications and there are three extended editions which contain: the basic edition plus central commercial register; basic edition plus balance sheets of companies and deposits; and basic edition plus central commercial register, balance sheets of companies and deposits. Apart from the official journals of Germany the Publishing House is specialized on professional commentaries and periodicals in different fields of law. In Germany there are numerous bulletins and various databases for the publication of public procurements. Above a certain threshold-value the public procurement shall be published on the Community level. (TED-EU Database) Below this amount it has to be published in the Bundesanzeiger, daily newspapers or professional periodicals. The only exception is that the announcements of the German State have to be published in the Bundesausschreibungsblatt (Federal Journal for Public Procurements). Only a few of the 16 Federal States have introduced unified rules for their administration. The most important decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court are published in the Amtlichen Sammlungen (Official Digests). The decisions of other Courts are published in other separate journals. Parliamentary debate materials are published in the „Bundestags- und Bundesratsdrucksachen” by the Bundesanzeiger Publisher. Bundesgesetzblatt can be subscribed as printed bulletin and is also kept available to the public on an information network – the access to Part I and Part II is free of charge. Bundesanzeiger has also a printed and an electronic version on payment of charge. In order to fulfil the demands of the federal authorities the Federal Ministry of Justice compiles consolidated versions of legal acts after their amendments. Some private editors do similar consolidation and maintain an electronic database, but naturally without legal value. 31 The Publishing House receives the legal texts from the Ministry of Justice, 5% in printed version and 95% online in different formats. The staff need 2 days after having the permission to print by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The Company is only a Publishing House without a self-owned printing sector. Printing orders for the professional books and journals are given to several printing houses. For the publication of Bundesanzeiger and Bundesgesetzblatt there are long-term contracts with two partners. The proofreading and structuring for the Bundesanzeiger are carried out by the staff of the Publishing House; for the Bundesgesetzblatt it is done by the editorial department of the Federal Ministry of Justice. Bundesanzeiger Publisher is one of the distributors of the publications of the Publications Office of the EU. 32 GREECE The organization and operation of the National Printing Office is basically regulated by the provisions of Presidental Decree 188/1996. Act 301 defines which legal acts have to be published in the Official Gazette. The National Printing Office (NPH) is the publisher of legal acts in Greece. The Office is supervised by the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization and is directed by a Special Secretary appointed by joint decision of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization. The Office has general competence in the publication and circulation of the Official Gazette of the Greek State and fulfills the printing demands of public services. The Official Gazette is the only means of publication of the deeds of the State Bodies. At present the issue authorization, the “circulation license” is exercised by – the General Clerk of the Ministerial Council for all issues apart from joint-stock companies and limited liability companies, – the Special Secretary of the National Printing Office for the Issue of Joint-stock Companies and Limited Liability Companies. The NPH has a self-governed budget which is a part of the State Budget. The laws and other legal acts are published separately in different issues. There are 12 issues: – Issue A Laws, Presidential Decrees, Public Contracts, Ministerial Council Deeds – Issue B Normative Decisions of Ministers or other bodies of State Administration – Issue C Appointments, Official Alterations and Resignations of Public Servants – Issue D City planning, Compulsory Expropriations, Seashore and Beach Definitions – Issue of Public Law Legal Entities (P.L.L.E.) Appointments, Official Alterations and Resignations of Public Legal Law Entities and Organizations – Appendix Issue Deeds and Proclamations of Universities and High Schools, Donations for the Greek State, Fines for Customs Violations, Tables of Competition Results regarding the occupation of posts in public services and of Public Law Legal Entities – Issue of Joint-stock Companies and Limited Liability Companies (S.A.-LTD) Deeds of Joint-stock Companies and Limited Liability Companies – Commercial and Industrial Property Card Issue (C.I.P.C.) Trade Marks, Industrial Marks and Patent Diplomas – Supreme Special Court’s Issue (SU.SP.CO) Ratification of the Referendum Results, Uncompromising or Degradation of a Deputy – Developmental Deeds and Contracts Issue (D.D.C.) Company’s Investment Subsumption Deeds, Approval Decisions of terms from which the Vessels are ruled when they are registered, according to Legislative Degree 2687/1953. – Proclamation Issue – Supreme Council Personnel Selection All Proclamations of the Supreme Council Personnel Selection for the filling of places of Public Services and Organizations – Public Contract Proclamations Issue The Summary of the Substantial Elements of State Supply Competition Proclamations 35 The Court decisions of public interest are published in the Official Gazette–Supreme Special Court Issue–with the responsibility of the Supreme Special Court. Up to 1998 parliamentary debate materials were published by the National Printing Office. Since then the Parliament’s Printing Office has been established and it is responsible for the publication of the Minutes of the Parliament’s Meeting. The National Printing House does not have competence in distribution of the Official Gazette. The Official Gazette is available for the citizens in printed and electronic form and on CD, as well. The printed version of the Gazette is disposed in the Central Office and in nine local branch offices all over Greece. All issues are available on the Internet and Issues A, B, C and Issue P.L.L.E. since 1994. The Gazette is available on CD since 2000, Issues A, B, C and Issue P.L.L.E. since 1994. The Official Gazette Issues of previous years are disposed upon payment in photocopies by the Library Office of the National Printing House. All Issues–apart from Issue P.L.L.E.–are gratis disposed via Internet in the Ministries, Public Bodies and Organizations and Public Law Legal Entities. The prices of the Official Gazette are defined each year by the decision of the Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization upon the initiative of the Special Secretary of the NPH. The National Printing House receives the legal texts to be published in printed form and if the volume exceeds a certain amount, in electronic form, as well. The texts are submitted to the NPH through the Ministry of Justice. The minimum period between the submission and the publication depends on several circumstances. Nevertheless, the shortest minimum period is one day. The printing activities are carried out by the Office. 36 HUNGARY Act No. 11/1987 on Legislation, Decree No. 148/2002 of 1 July on the Prime Minister’s Office and a few other regulations stipulate the publication of legal acts in Hungary. As the official publisher of the Hungarian legislation, the Hungarian Official Journal Publisher (Magyar Hivatalos Közlönykiadó – MHK) performs its activity subordinated to the Government, under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office. The Official Journal of Hungary (Magyar Közlöny) is edited by the Prime Minister’s Office with the participation of the Editorial Board. The MHK is a public limited company since 1994, whose sole owner is the Hungarian Government. The publication of the Official Journal is financed from its revenues. The Official Journal of Hungary is published according to the principle of a single edition. It is composed of six parts: Part I – Personnel decisions Part II – Acts of the Parliament, decrees Part III – Decisions of the Parliament, certain desicions of the Constitutional Court prescribed by law Part IV – Directives, decisions of the Supreme Court for the unity of law Part V – Announcements, public notices Part VI – International agreements If the volume is too comprehensive for one edition, the regular edition is supplemented with a further volume. Following the earlier tradition the Publishing House has been publishing the Official Notices as a supplement to the Official Journal, since 1998, which contains public recruitment competitions, information on training and vocational training, reports, announcements, public notices. In addition to the Official Journal of Hungary, Ministries and national authorities also publish their official bulletins to facilitate their duties. These bulletins carry the sector related measures and information (decrees, decisions, announcements) to all those concerned. The official bulletins are edited by the legal department of the relevant ministry or national authority and the editorial board of the bulletin in question. Public procurements are published in the Bulletin of Public Procurements (Közbeszerzési Értesítõ) by the Hungarian Official Journal Publisher. An on-line version of the bulletin is also available for the public. Court decisions of public interest are published in the periodical, Repertory of Court decisions, but not by MHK. Court decisions are also available on the Internet. Private printing houses also publish collections of them. Parliamentary documents are published on-line by the Office of the Hungarian Parliament. Apart from subscription delivery, various channels are used for distribution: books and periodical publications may be purchased either in the Journal Store, or alternatively, orders via mail, fax or through the Online Store are fulfilled as cash on delivery consignment. The Publishing House has also contracted with several books and newspaper retailers in Budapest and in the country. The last five issues of the Official Journal are also available free of charge on the website of the Publishing House. Based on the existing law databases, various repertories of legal acts, either comprehensive and topic-based collections, are published with great accuracy and in a short time period. Under the supervision of the Minister of Justice and the Minister for the Prime Minister’ Office, the Official Compilation of Acts and Decrees, a set of several volumes is 39 published every year, while the Official Compilation of Law in Force comes out every five years (the latter is to appear on CD-ROM). The consolidated version of a legal act has to be published in the Magyar Közlöny if it is decided so by the Hungarian Parliament or by the Government. Consolidated texts of legal acts are published on CD-ROM and come out on the basis of monthly update. The Publishing House receives the legal texts to be published both in printed and electronic versions. Depending on the volume and the urgency, the staff needs about 1-2 days to prepare the texts. The Publisher has its own Printing House located in Lajosmizse, not far from the Publisher’s seat in Budapest. The editorial staff of the Publisher administers counter-editing, proofreading and the final preview of the master copy and performs all other activities related to the publishing. The MHK publishes a directory of Community legislation published in the OJ L series. Translation of the most important Hungarian legal acts is available on the website of the relevant Ministries. 40 IRELAND Iris Oifigiúil is the Official Irish State Gazette and is published twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays). In addition to the biweekly publication of Iris Oifigiúil, a number of supplements are published at varying times during the year. Iris Oifigiúil is the official means used by the Government for announcing appointments to public offices and publishing proclamations; statutory instruments; appointment of receivers to companies; etc. Prima Facie evidence of any proclamation, order, rule, regulation, bye-law, or other official document may be given in any legal proceedings by production of a copy of the Iris purported to contain such matter (Documentary Evidence Act 1925 ss.3–4). Notices in relation to many matters concerning companies must be published in the Iris within six weeks of the delivery to the Registrar of Companies. Iris Oifigiúil replaced the Dublin Gazette in 1922 and became the medium for the publication of governmental, statutory and other notices formerly published in the Gazette. The Printing & Election Services of the Government Supplies Agency is responsible for the publication of the Iris. The Government Supplies Agency is a business unit of the Office of Public Works (OPW). The OPW was established to carry out a wide variety of public works, such as the construction of public buildings, roads, bridges and harbours. The present day OPW has retained many of its original functions and has aquired new roles. It is responsible for the restoration and preservation of many prestigious state buildings, the acquisition and fitting out of office accomodation for Government Departments, the construction and maintenance of Garda stations and prisons and the arterial drainage and flood relief programme. The Government Supplies Agency is divided into three sections: Procurement Services manages the central procurement of a variety of goods, supplies and services on behalf of the Government. Publication Services sells Government Publications directly to the public through the Government Publications Sale office and a mail order service. Printing & Election Services is responsible for – the central procurement of printing and binding services for Government Departments, Offices and Agencies, – the provision of a service to Election Returning Officers in relation to the supply of election stationery and printing services, – the publication of Iris Oifigiúil. All Acts and Statutory Instruments are available in the Irish Statute Book. The Irish Statute Book database comprises the Acts of the Oireachtas, Statutory Instruments and Chronological Tables of the Statutes for the period 1922–2002. The official version of the Acts of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament) and Statutory Instruments remains the printed version published by The Stationery Office. In Ireland a website has been developed as part of the Government Action Plan on Implementing the Information Society in the country. The site is designed to be a central facility for all public sector contracting authorities to advertise procurement opportunities and award notices. The site is managed by the National Public Procurement Policy Unit (NPPPU) of the Department of Finance. The Debates of the Houses of the Oireachtas are put online as soon as the file are available. This is normally within 24 hours of the debate. 43 ITALY In Italy the regulation of the publication of legal acts is extensive. Bureau No. 3 of the Department of Justice–the Bureau responsible for the publication of Acts and Decisions carries out its activity in the framework of the Ministry of Justice. It is responsible for the enforcement of the numerous legal acts providing for the publication of Acts, other Statutory Instruments and official documents in the Gazzetta Ufficiale, the Official Gazette of Italy. To enhance the fulfillment of this responsibility the above Ministry is responsible for the “Directorate and Editorial Office of the Official Gazette”. In Italy the printed version is the official version of legal acts. The major characteristics of the present structure and the Gazette originate from the period of 1985–87. The objective of the system organized at that time was to provide citizens with a better and easier accessiblity to Acts and other documents. Due to this reform the Official Gazette was devided into two parts: Part I and II. Part I is sometimes subdivided into more parts: “General Series” – Acts and Decisions “Special Part” – according to the different issues: – Minutes and documentation of the cases of the Constitutional Court – Community Legislation – Laws and other Statutory Instruments of the Italian regions and provinces – Invitations to Tenders Part II publishes documents, minutes, court and commercial notices. Court decisions are not published in the Italian Official Gazette; this is the responsibilty of the Chancelleries of the various Courts of Justice. The Parliamentary documents are accessible via the Publishing House of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Official Gazette is available both in printed and electronic version. Significant part of the publishing and distribution work of the Official Gazette is performed by “GURITEL”. This service is the responsibility of a separate department. As a result of the work of this department the authentic texts of the documents published in the Official Gazette are accessible on the Internet in proper time. The National Printing House and Reproduction Institution–joining the eGovernment action plan–implemented the Government project according to which access to the Italian Official Gazette via Internet is free. The complete text of the documents published in the Official Gazette can be read for 60 days free of charge. The legal acts and documents to be published are sent by the different government agencies to the Directorate and Editorial Office of the Gazette, which after checking sends it on to the Printing House. The Printing House is under control of the so called Printing and Reproduction Institution and the State Mint Ltds. Making-up, pagination and printing are regulated by law. The proofreading and proof sheets are prepared by the Printing House, and immediately forwarded to the Publishing House for correction. Pursuant to law, the Official Gazette has two days for preparing proofreading and proof sheets, so that the paper would be published during the afternoon each weekday as defined by law. This decision played a significant role in eliminating some problems concerning delays caused by the corrections of proofreading and proof sheets–a prerequisite to printing after “checking and endorsement”. Eliminating delays has been conductive to typesetting, launching and distribution in time. However the significant development of printing techniques and information technology have considerably promoted to these results. During the reorganization and modernization process the Printing and Reproduction Institution has been privatized. The successor private limited company is under control of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the sole shareholder of the company capital. In the case of the Official Gazette the Institution receives share from the sales, subscriptions and advertising fees. The Ministry of Finance and Economy fixes all prices (of sales, subscriptions and advertising fees) with respect to the opinion of the Ministry of Justice. 45 LATVIA The publication of legal acts in Latvia is regulated by the Law on Enforcement of Legal Acts. The Latvijas Ve-stnesis is the Official Journal of Latvia. The Publishing House of the Official Journal is a private limited company, 100% owned by the State. The Publishing House is subordinated to the Ministry of Justice. The publication of the journal is published from the sales revenue. Latvijas Ve-stnesis is published four times a week since 1993. In 2004 the format and the structure of the journal underwent a transformation in order to offer a better arranged structure for the Official Gazette. The Official Journal is divided into three parts: – Laws, regulations, normative acts of the State Bodies, parliamentary debates – Announcements by legal entities prescribed by law – Editorial part (articles, news, interview) Public Procurements are published on the Internet site of the Public Procurement Office and also in a printed version. The court decisions of public interest are published as a weekly supplement to the Official Gazette. The Publishing House offers two types of subscriptions to the Official Gazette: subscriptions to the printed version or to the on-line version. They can also be obtained as single. The Publisher is planning to operate an electronic database of consolidated law. The legal texts to be published are transmitted both in printed and electronic versions to the Publisher. Acts of the Parliament are published in the next issue of the Official Gazette, regulations are published in three days. The Publisher does not have printing facilities. All the pre-press work is carried out by the Publisher. The translation of national legislation is partly available. 47 LITHUANIA The publication of laws in Lithuania is regulated by the Law on Procedure of Publication and Coming Into Force of Republic of Lithuania Laws and Other Legal Acts (April 6, 1993. No 1-119, amended by May 18, 1999. No. VIII-1184) The Valstybe·s inios, the Official Journal of the Republic of Lithuania is published by the Publishing House of the Parliament of Lithuania. This Publishing House is a state enterprise. The Publishing House has its own budget within the state budget. The Official Gazette includes the following chapters: Chapter I. The Laws of the Republic of Lithuania Chapter II. The International Agreements of the Republic of the Lithania Chapter III. Other Legal Acts passed by the Republic of Lithuanian Seimas Chapter IV. The Decrees of the President of the Republic of Lithuania Chapter V. Goverment Resolutions of the Republic of Lithuania Chapter VI. Decisions, Resolutions and Conclusions of the Constitutional Court Chapter VII. The Orders and other Normative Legal Acts of Ministers, heads of Goverment Institutions and heads of other State Governing Institutions and other Normative Acts confirmed by Laws, and the Decisions by the Bank of Lithuania Board The editorial office of the Official Gazette publishes in separate issues “Information Reports”, an Annex to the Gazette. Public procurement tenders are not published in the Official Gazette. The parliamentary debate materials are published in “Seimas Chronicle” in English and Lithuanian language. The draft laws are published in separate issues “Information reports” as annex to Official Journal. The draft laws are published per desicion of Seimas for public deliberation. The Bank of Lithuania, Ministries, Departments and Goverment Institutions and other State Governing Institutions, Courts and other law protection institutions, district and city boards, higher administrative unit governing institutions, other legal entities belonging to the state administration must subscribe and keep on file issues of the Official Gazette. The Official Gazette can be subscribed or is available at newsagents. Official collections of legal acts may be published in the Official Gazette on the basis of published legal acts. These collections may be published by the services of Republic of Lithuania Seimas, Lithuanian Republic Government, Republic of Lithuania Ministry of Justice and also, by the Official Gazette. The legal acts must appear in the Internet pages of Seimas as well as of the institution which has adopted them, within 3 days of their formal publication in the Official Gazette. The legal texts to be published are submitted to the Publishing House both in printed and electronical version. Texts are put in order of importance. The Official Gazette in the Lithuanian language is published no less frequently than twice a week (8 times a month). If necessary, the “Official Gazette” may be published more frequently, as well. The publications are edited and proofread in the Office. Pursuant to law, printinghouses have no right to proofread the texts they receive. Publications are printed according to the contracts with the printing houses. The “Official Gazette” may be published in other languages to publicize legal acts. A legal act published in other than Lithuanian language must indicate that it is a translation from Lithuanian. 49 official.qxd 8/31/04 7:46 PM Page 50 LUXEMBURG The Constitution and several other legal acts regulate the publication order of legal acts in Luxemburg. According to the provisions of the Constitution, legal acts enter into force in the grand duchy in four days after their publication in the Mémorial. The day of publication is also included in the deadline, unless a longer or shorter deadline is prescribed by law. The Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg (Journal Officiel du GrandDuché de Luxembourg) is published by the Central Legislation Office. The Office carries out its activity in the framework of the Prime Minister’s Office, under the controll of the Minister for Parliamentary Relations. The printing expenses of the Official Journal are mainly financed from the state budgetary estimates, the rest is covered by the Municipal Expenditure Fund of the Ministry of Interior. The Mémorial is published in three volumes. Mémorial A – Collection of Legal Acts: Acts of the Parliament, decisions of the Constitutional Court, International Agreements. It is published 1-4 times a week. Mémorial B – Collection of Business Documents and Documents of the Public Administration: Summaries of individual decisions of the public administration, circulars, opinions, reports. This volume contains all the texts whose publication are prescribed by law or are decided by the relevant Minister. Mémorial C – Collection of Documents of Companies and Associations Parliamentary documents are published by the Parliament. (Le Compte rendu de Chambre). They are also available on the website of the Parliament. The bodies of public administration and public institutions order their subscriptions free of charge through the Publisher, while the subscriptions of municipialities burden the Municipal Expenditure Fund of the Ministry of Interior. Private individuals can subscribe at the Printing House charged with the printing of the Official Journal. According to the decision of the European Counsil meeting, held in Feira in 2000, the eLuxemburg or eGovernment Programme was launched. Within the framework of the Programme the Central Legislation Office was charged together with other state bodies to create a website, on which legal texts can be available for the public. Besides legal acts published in the Mémorial A since 1980, several other documents became available in the first phase of the Programme finished in 2002. Since then the central database has been widening with databases of the Ministries. A consolidated version of a legal act (if it is not adopted as a whole again by the Parliament) is not a legally binding one (it serves only for information), even in the case, it has been published in the Mémorial A. The texts to be published in the Mémorial are transmitted by the Departments of the Ministries either in printed and electronic version to the Office, who forwarded them to the Printing House charged with the printing of the journal. The Printing House prepares the proofs, which are sent back by the Office to the relevant Ministries for proofreading. Soon afterwards the permission for printing is given out by the Minister in question. The Office compiles the Mémorial taking into account the urgency of publication of the texts to be published. 51 MALTA The publication of laws of Malta in the Malta Government Gazette is regulated by sections 72 and 124 of the Constitution of Malta and by the section 3 (1) of the Interpretation Act. The Publishing House of the Malta Government Gazette is the Department of Information. The Gazette has been in circulation since 1813. It is issued bilingually (in Maltese and English). The Gazette is financed by the Government from the Consolidated Fund, through an annual allocation, as approved by Parliament in the yearly financial estimates. No business ventures are involved. The Gazette contains various Government Notices, Calls for applications for Government posts, publication of Trade Marks, grant of Letters Patent, Court Decrees etc. On the other hand, laws passed by the Parliament and Bills laid on the table of the House of Representatives are published separately as supplements to the Gazette. Public procurement tenders are managed by the Contracts’ Department (in the Ministry of Finance) and are published together with Calls for Tenders in the Gazette. Tenders are also published on the website of the Department of Information. Court Sentences are accessible to the media and are also available on-line. Court Decisions are also published by the Department. Parliamentary debates are published in printed form by the Parliament which also issues online bills, acts passed by the Parliament and parliamentary questions. The Gazette is published bilingually on a regular basis at least twice a week, many times exceeding this minimum. Since December 2003, the Department of Information has been putting the Gazette online on a regular basis. The service is free of charge. The Gazette can be obtained by the general public either by purchasing it from the Department or by subscription. Consolidated versions of legal acts are compiled by the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs. The legal texts to be published originate from the Office of the Attorney General where editing, proofreading etc. are carried out. It is very difficult to state the minimum period of time the Government Printing Press receives the texts before publication, as this depends on various factors such as the volume of text, urgency of publication, etc. Laws and subsidiary legislation are printed at the Government Printing Press which is a separate Government Department catering for all Government printing requirements, naturally including the Gazette. 53 POLAND In Poland the Act of on the Publication of Legal Acts and Certain Provisions (20 July, 2000) provides for the publication of legal acts. The publication of international agreements is provided for by the Act on the Publication of International Agreements (14 April, 2000). According to law, legal acts are to be published in three government journals: in the State Gazette of the Republic of Poland, in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland: the Monitor Polski and Monitor Polski B. The Legislative Centre of the Governement (RCL)–established on 1 January, 2000–is responsible for the publication of the State Gazette of the Republic of Poland and the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland (Monitor Polski). Earlier the publication of the Gazette was under control of the Legal and Legislative Department of the Presidential Office of the Council of Ministers (KPRM). RCL is a budgetary organisation. KPRM may entrust a business organisation with relevant expertise with the printing and distribution work of the State Gazette, Monitor Polski and Monitor Polski B. Such business organisation with relevant expertise is the Service Centre for the Presidential Office of the Council of Ministers operating its own Printing and Publishing House. The State Gazette and Monitor Polski are financed from budgetary funds as well as the subscription fees. The Legal Gazette of the Republic of Poland publishes the following issues: – The Constitution; – Acts; – Law-decrees of the President of the Republic of Poland; – Decrees of the President of the Republic, of the President of the Council of Ministers, of the Ministers, of the Chairmen of the Committees defined by law who may be members of the Council of Ministers, or the National Radio and Television Organisations; – Amendments to the provisions mentioned in 1–4; – Decisions of the Constitutional Court on the interpretation of law; – Decisions of the Council of Ministers in respect of the Amendment of certain Ministerial Decrees. Furthermore, the Legal Gazette announces state of war or any other emergency; signing peace; results of referendums and votes on the Amendments of the Constitution; revoking Parliamentary commissions; Parliamentary elections; election of the President of the Republic; actions, as well as partial or full mobilization of the armed forces; natural disasters and any other documents prescribed by law. In the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland, the Monitor Polski the following issues are published: – Decrees (Resolutions) of the President of the Republic on the basis of certain Acts; – Resolutions and Decrees of the Council of Ministers according to the relevant provisions; – Amendments to the provisions of 1–2; – Decisions of the Constitutional Court on the legal acts having published or to be published in Monitor Polski. Other texts to be published in Monitor Polski: Parliamentary Decisions; Decisions of the Lower and the Upper Houses; Decisions and Resolutions of the President of the Republic, as well as certain Resolutions of the Constitutional Court. Decisions of the Supreme Court as well as other legal communications, notices and announcements of public interest, if provided so by law. In the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland, the Monitor Polski B the followings are published: – Financial Reports as prescribed by the Statutory Instruments on Accounting 55 – Announcements and notices of public interest of entrepreneurs, if law does not prescribe their publication in the Court or Economic Observers; other legal announcements, e.g. communications and notices of public interest of the different organisations, institutions and private persons, if provided so by law. Publishing announcements and notices of public interest defined in 1–2 are subject to charges. The President of the Council of Ministers decides on the charges separately. There are also special journals published by the Ministers or the Central Government Department Head. The regional journals publish the legal acts of local and regional interest, under control of the Head of the Region. Publishing the Public Procurement Gazette is the responsibility of the Office of Public Procurements. They prepare the publication, which is then printed in the Service Centre for the Presidential Office of the Council of Ministers. Court notices of public interest–especially those of particular public interest–are published together among the notices of the Supreme Court, the Public Administration Court and other Courts. Parliamentary documents are published by the Publishing House of Seim in the Parlamentary Journal and in the Parliamentary Chronicle. These publications are available in the Bookshop of the Parliament. Distribution of Monitor Polski and Monitor Polski B takes place via subscription at places under control of KPRM, including the headquaters of certain government agencies, courts and other organs. The publications can also be obtained as single. The online versions of the official journals are also available. The Gazette publishes consolidated law as well, provided that it is decided so by the Speaker of the Seim and it is prepared by the Department of Legal Services to the Chancellary of Seim. The Service Centre of the Presidential Office of the Council of Ministers (KPRM) participates in the publication process of the official journals – in respect of technology – as a budgetary organ, enriching the central budget with its profit oriented activity. The Service Centre of KPRM operates a modern photolab and printing house. Operation of the Service Centre of KPRM is regulated by the Decree of the Head of the Presidential Office of the Council of Ministers. The Legislative Centre of the Governement (RCL) plays an important role in the legislative procedure. The legal experts of the Centre have the responsibility to give their professional opinion on Bills of the Government and Ministerial Decrees, etc. The Centre usually receives the texts to be published in paper form. There is no regulation providing for the time of publishing. The shortest period was 12 hours. 56 PORTUGAL The publication of the Official Journal of Portugal, “Diário da República” is regulated by the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, by a decree and a normative order. The Publishing House of the “Diário da República” is a company whose capital funds are solely public since 1999. The origin of this company goes back to 1972, when the fusion of two enterprises resulted in a public enterprise: INCM. The enterprise’s revenues provided by subscriptions, publication of advertisements and selling self-produced products and services, grant the funds to finance the Official Journal. In Portugal according to the subject of the legal acts the Journal is divided into three separate series according to the subject: The first serie contains laws, decrees, international conventions, resolutions of Courts of Justice and the results of the elections. The second serie contains all the main legal acts of Public Administration. The third serie comprises the main legal acts of registered companies, calls for applications for posts in public employment, other decisions taken by several entities and documents which have to be published by law. The public procurement tenders are published according to the provisions of Decreelaw No. 245/2003 of 7 October, according to the Commission Directive No. 2001/78/CE of 13 September. Decisions of Courts are published in the first and second series of the Official Journal. The debates of the National Assembly are published in the “Diárió da Assembleia da República” which is available on the Internet, as well. The Official Journal can be procured by the general public either by subscription or by purchasing it from the INCM stores. Pursuant to law, judges and magistrates of the Prosecution Council receive the “Diárió da República” and the “Diárió da Assembleia da República” free of charge. The company receives the legal texts to be published electronically or in printed version according to the contracts made between the parties. The minimum period the Publishing House receives the text before the publication is: 5 working days – for the first serie 7 working days – for the second serie 8 working days – for the third serie The INCM has its own Printing House. The company is one of the major publishing houses of the country. Editing, structuring and proofreading are carried out by the staff of the Publishing House. INCM is one of the two distributors of the Official Journal of the European Union in Portugal. 59 SLOVAKIA The publication of the Statutes of the Slovak Republic is regulated by Act 1/1993 Z. z of multiple amendments. The Statutes of the Slovak Republic is published by the Ministry of Justice, specifically by the Department of Publications. Editing is financed from budgetary funds. Printing and distribution of the State Gazette are financed by a private company, not from budgetary funds. All Statutory Instruments of national scope are published in the State Gazette. The Supreme Court of the Slovakian Republic decides which court decisions shall be published. All court decisions will be available on the Internet in the near future. Publication on the Internet will be financed by the Ministry of Justice. Part of the parliamentary documentation is also available on the Internet, however, they are not considered as official publications of the relevant area. The Statutes of the Slovak Republic is distributed by a private company. Only some of the Acts are published in a consolidated version. The consolidated version is prepared by the Speaker on authorization of the Parliament. The Publishing House receives the text to be published in three copies signed by the competent persons, as well as electronically. The publication shall take place within 15 days, although this is not observed in practice. The Ministry of Justice has not got a Printing House of appropriate capacity, however, the entire editing and correction work is performed by the Ministry. Only legal acts of highly importance are translated, usually into the English and French languages. 61 SLOVENIA The publication of national regulations and other instruments is regulated by the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (1991). According to it’s provisions, regulations must be published in the national Official Gazette before they enter into force. The Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia d.o.o. company is only the Publisher of the national gazette titled Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, whereas the Government Office for Legislation is its Editor. The Relations between the Publisher and the Editor are regulated by the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia Act (1996). The Act also stipulates the contents and the manner of publishing. The conditions of publishing in the Gazette, the manner and the order of priority of publications are in greater detail defined by the Regulation of the Government of Slovenia on Publishing in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia (2003). The Company has been engaged in the publication of legislation for almost sixty years and underwent a change of ownership in 1996. It has a status of a public company and its majority owner is the state. The Company is financed out of its own revenues. The majority part of income originates from the subscriptions to the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. The Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia is issued according to the principle of a single edition. It comprises the following three parts: – Regulations Section: national legislation, decisions of the Constitutional Court and regulations of local communities; – Official Publications Section: publications of courts, public procurement tenders, tenders and publications of commercial companies; – International Treaties Section. The new Public Procurement Act, passed in December 2003, newly stipulates the entities which are obligated to publish public procurement tenders. According to the new Act, public procurement tenders will be exclusively published in electronic version on the information portal of the respective state authority. The publications of courts can be found in the Official Publications Section of the Official Gazette. These publications are related to the registrations of companies, execution and securing of claims, litigious an non-litigious civil matters, as well as bankruptcies of companies. The parliamentary debates can be read on the website of the National Assembly. The Company offers two types of subscriptions to the Official Gazette: subscription to the printed version or to the online version. The printed version is the only official and legally binding text. The staff of the Company does the entire preparative work for printing (proofreading, print layout etc.). Legal texts to be published are delivered to the publisher both in the printed and electronic versions. The Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia Act stipulates the following: “… in the first issue to follow, if timely submitted…” or foresees the announcement of texts in the case they exceed 100 pages. In practice, the legal texts to be published must as a rule be received by the Publisher until Monday and they will be entered into the Friday edition. The Publisher waits for the Government’s decisions until Thursday and if they are urgent, they will also published in the Friday edition. If the volume is too comprehensive for one edition, the regular weekly edition is supplemented with an extra edition. In the last year this became a rule. The printing activities are carried out by a Printing House pursuant to the contract between the Publisher and the Printing House. In Slovenia there is a State institution (Government Translation and Editing Office) intended for the translation of national legislation. 63 SPAIN The publication of laws in Spain is regulated by Decree of the Presidency of the Government 1511/1986. The publisher of the Official Spanish Journal (BOE) is a public organisation subordinated to the Ministry of Presidency, which is in charge of printing, distributing and selling of the Official Journal and the Official Gazette of the Register of Companies. The Autonomous Organisation Spanish Official Journal also publishes reports, compilations, legal texts and offprints of provisions of special interest. It creates and maintains legal databases from the Journal and the Official Gazette of the Register of Companies. The Journal does not need budget resources from the Ministry of Finance. The Organisation has its own resources whose composition is the following: Announcements: 79% Subscriptions: 11% Other sales: 10%. The structure of the Official Journal is the following: Section I – Laws and General Regulations Section II – Human Resources, Recruitments and Appointments Section III – Secondary legislation Section IV – Announcements by the Courts of Justice Section V – Announcement of Tenders Public procurement tenders are announced by the Ministries and public agencies who pay to BOE the fees established by law. Ministries and Agencies however rebound the fees on the companies who win the tender. Court decisions are published free of charge in Section IV of the Official Journal. Parliamentary debates are published by the Printing House of the BOE, but it does not form a part of the Journal. The Journal can be obtained by subscriptions or as single in bookshops. The free distribution does not play any role. The BOE begun to publish acts in force on the Internet. At present BOE receives legal texts to be published from the Government Secretariat electronically or in printed form. In the future a new system will be introduced in order to transmit legal texts electronically to the Government Secretariat for registration and from this point to the Printing House for printing. The Spanish Official Journal has its own Printing House. In an urgent case legal texts are published on the same or the following day BOE receives them. In other cases the Printing House produces proofs in order to revise the text, after it the final text will be prepared and then signed by the King and the President. In this case the Printing House needs at least three days. 65 SWEDEN The publication of laws in Sweden are regulated by the Act of Publication (1976) and by a Government Ordinance (1976). In accordance with the Act of Publication, laws are published in the Swedish Code of Statutes (Svensk författningssamling – SFS). Ordinances are usually published in the Code, as well. The Director-General for Administrative affairs at the Ministry of Justice is legally responsible for the publication of the Swedish Code of Statutes. The publishing is administered from the Office of the Swedish Code of Statutes. The Office is a part of the Division for Legal and Linguistic Draft Revision at the Ministry of Justice. Apart from handling the publication of the Code, the Office is also responsible for several legal data bases within the Government Offices. At present, two Administrative Officers work at the Office. At the Division there are also five lawyers. Their main task is to review statutes and other proposals to be submitted to the Swedish Parliament. The purpose of the revision is to make sure that the laws and decisions are well-reasoned, lucid and uniform in legal technique and they do not violate the Constitution. Laws and Government Ordinances are published in the Swedish Code of Statutes. Regulations given by the authorities are published in the code of statutes of each authority. The Office does not publish public procurement tenders, as the EU Official Journal is used for that purpose. The Swedish National Courts Administration, an authority handling administrative issues for the court, publishes the court decisions of public interest in printed form. At the moment the National Courts Administration publishes decisions of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Courts of Appeal and the Labour Court. The Market court is responsible for publishing its own decisions. The Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen) publishes the debate materials. The debate materials are published in form of questions to the Government and answers to the questions from different Ministers. In Sweden there is no prescribed routine for publishing acts in force. However, the Ministry of Justice publishes a book with a list of acts in force yearly. At the final stage of the legislative process, a proof print of a new law is ordered from the Printing Office by the person in charge of the legislative process. When the work is done and after necessary proofreading, the Director General for Legal affairs concerned or somebody appointed by him, approves the statute for printing and sends it to the Office of the Swedish Code of Statutes. At the Office a final check on all formal details is performed by the Administrative Officers and of the lawyers at the Division. They give a final approval for printing and the proof is delivered to the Printing Office. This procedure takes place once a week, usually on Thuesdays. The new statutes will then be printed in the Code the following week. The Swedish Government purchases the services of printing and distribution of the Swedish Code of Statutes on the open market every third year. Liaison is then maintained between the Office of Swedish Code of Statutes and the Printing Office throughout the period. There is a special agreement between the Government and the Printing Office. The provider has to cover all costs of the publication and the Government, however, undertakes to buy some 600 subscriptions for the libraries of the municipalities. In Sweden, there are no official translated versions of acts and ordinances, but a few acts are unofficially translated into other languages and are available on the website of the Government. 67 THE NETHERLANDS The publication of laws and regulations is embedded in the Publication Law. Its provisions say how and where official publications have to be published. As a principal laws are published in the Staatsblad and regulations are published in the Staatscourant. Furthermore, there are some other legal acts concerning the publication of certain acts of companies. The law specifies that all companies that went bankrupt, must be published in the Staatscourant. The same applies to yearly publication of balance sheets. In the past the Publishing House (Sdu) was a govermental organisation. In 1988 the Sdu became a limited liability company. So the Sdu was transformed into a commercial company, but the shares are 100% owned by the Government. Since the Sdu performs more economically than similar publishing companies, now the Government is willing to sell a part of the company. Most official publications are paid by the users. For laws the customer pays 12 eurocents per page in case of subscription and 26 cents in single sales. For regulations: Ministries can publish for free and the rest (local governments etc.) must pay. The principle is the same as in case of advertising. The more text you publish the more you pay. Prices are calculated in millimetre/column. Besides the Staatsblad and Staatscourant there are other official publications of the Sdu: Kamerstukken: All official correspondence of the Government Kamervragen: All official questions to the Ministers Handelingen: The full reports of meetings of the Parliament Tractenblad: International Agreements All are produced by publishing on demanded techniques and are available via Internet. Public procurement tenders are published in two ways. Above a certain amount they are published in EUmedia. Otherwise Dutch law specifies where they have to be published: in the Staatscourant or in any other national trade journal. Court decisions are not published by Sdu, but by the Court itself. The Dutch Court Organisation uses a separate website for that purpose. Parliamentary debate materials are published in the Handelingen by the Sdu. All publications are sold by using normal marketing techniques, like leaflets, e-marketing and advertisements. Customers can order by phone or via Internet. Since Sdu has a monopoly on several official publications, it has to negotiate all the prices with the Government. Sdu receives the legal texts to be published in various ways, depending upon the deadline (in how much time the Government wants them published). When 48 hours is required, the Government supplies the Publishing House with a digital copy. Sdu has sold its printing capacity. There is only one exception and that is for the official publications. They are produced by printing on demand. This is carried out in the Publishing House, including prepress activities. The main reason is not economical, but the importance of delivery time and the interface with the administrative system of Sdu. 69 UNITED KINGDOM Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) is headed by the Controller and operates as part of the Cabinet Office under the ministerial control of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Her Majesty the Queen appoints the Controller of HMSO by Letters Patent as the Queen’s Printer of Acts of Parliament, and to hold and exercise all rights and privileges in connection with copyrights owned by the Crown. The Controller is also appointed as the Government Printer of Northern Ireland. Although part of the Cabinet Office, HMSO remains a separate legal entity carrying out statutory functions which are laid directly upon HMSO, the Queen’s Printer of Acts of Parliament and the Government Printer of Northern Ireland. HMSO manages and regulates the use and the licensing of the re-use of all information produced by Government which is protected by Crown copyright. HMSO oversees the printing and publication of all UK legislation and related official materials in traditional print formats and via the Internet, and advises Government Departments on all aspects of official publishing. HMSO also manages the Government’s Information Asset Register. As Queen’s Printer, all legislation, Command Papers and the official gazettes are published under the authorithy and superintendence of the Controller. Since 2000, all UK legislation is published simultaneously on the Internet and in print with both media carrying official status since October 2002. HMSO also manages the licensing of Parliamentary copyright under the terms of an agreement with the UK Parliament. All legislation and the Official Gazettes are currently published by The Stationery Office Ltd. (TSO). The London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes are the Official Journals of the United Kingdom, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The London Gazette is the most up-to-date primary source for vital business information, which is published alongside important State and official news and announcements. It is published under superintendence of HMSO by The Stationery Office fives times a week, Monday to Friday. The Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes fulfil similar functions in respect of Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Edinburgh Gazette is published on Tuesday and Friday and the Belfast Gazette every Friday. Publication in the London Gazette has business and legal significance with the courts. It is published Monday to Friday. The Gazette is of the utmost importance in a number of legal situations, with the court clock starting to tick only when the Gazette publishes an official announcement, and it is accepted as evidence in legal matters. The Gazettes are the primary source of a wide range of official notices. These include: State (including Royal Household), Parliamentary and Ecclesiastical notices; Implementation of Statutory Instruments; Corporate and Personal insolvency notices, including petitions for Winding-up of companies and notices relating to meetings of creditors etc.; Transport and planning notices; Other public notices; and Trustee Act notices. In addition various supplements are published which include: The Queen’s Birthday and New Year’s Honours Lists; Other honours and awards; Details of Premium Bond prize draws; Armed Forces Promotions and Re-gradings; and Companies information. 71 The Gazettes also include a number of information “Tracker” services that provide an easy to use update on all official resources in over 100 subject areas. Monday: New Law Tracker summarises all developments in legislation. Tuesday: Statistics and Standards Tracker references new developments from the Office of National Statistics and the British Standards Institute. Wednesday: Parliamentary Tracker is a summary of debates, Committees and progress in the Houses of Commons and Lords. Thursday: European Tracker provides a listing of all new drafts, documents, treaties and conventions from Europe. Friday: Government Tracker is a run down of all recent Government publications. Each day is supplemented with a listing of all the previous day’s press releases and major website updates published by dozens of Governmental and official bodies. All three Gazettes are, in addition to the printed edition, published on the Internet. On behalf of HMSO, TSO are currently undertaking a major digitisation programme of the entire historical printed archive. Access to the Internet versions of the gazettes is free, with the exception of financial services information which is available to subscribers only for the first days, after which it is available free. Official paper copies of most items in the publication scheme of the HMSO–such as legislation–are liable to charge. These can be purchased from TSO outlets or the Parliamentary Bookshop or can be ordered from booksellers. The United Kingdom Official Publications Database (UKOP) catalogues all parliamentary and statutory publications (including Acts and Statutory Instruments), and the publications of over 2500 official bodies including central government departments, the devolved administration, agencies, quangos and other bodies. UKOP is now published by TSO, and has been recognised by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and the Cabinet Office as the official catalogue of UK official publications. The Stationery Office Ltd. is a distributor of the publications of the Publications Office of the EU. 72 APPENDIX We sent a letter with questions conserning the publication practice of the national publishing houses to all member states of the EU. Below you will find our questions and answers drawn up in a synoptic table. We have done this work to get an overview on the answers, but we have to emphasize that our questions were originally meant for writing a summary in text format on each official journal. Thus we apologize for the possible inaccuracies and deficiencies. We have collected the material in several languages therefore language problems may also have given rise to misunderstanding. LIST OF QUESTIONS 1. What legal act or legal acts regulate the publication of laws in your country? 2. What is the legal status and business form of your Publishing House? Which is the relevant Ministry? 3. What is the publication of the Official Journal financed from (budget resources, business venture, other)? 4. Are laws and ministerial and main authority acts published together or separately? Which are these publications? 5. How are public procurement tenders published? 6. How are court decisions of public interest published? 7. Are parliamentary debate materials published? If so, by whom and how? 8. How are the official publications distributed (collection of subscriptions, invoicing, delivery)? 9. Do you also publish consolidated text of legal acts? 10. How do you receive the legal texts to be published? 11. What is the minimum period you receive the text before publication? 12. Do you have your own Printing House? 13. Where are the publications edited, proofread, structured etc. (at the Printing House or at the Publisher)? 14. Are you involved in second edition of the EU legislation in any form? 73 1 2 3 4 Austria Bundesgesetz Ltd., owner: -blattgesetz Austrian Republic Federal Chancellery State Budget together from January, 2004 Belgium “Programme Law” 2002 Cyprus Constitution Department, Interpretation M. of Law Finance State Budget Czeh Republic Act No. 309/1999 Coll. M. of Interior from together subscriptions, diff. State Budget Denmark Law on Lovtidende 1991 Directorate, State Budget M. of Justice Estonia Act on Riigi Teataja State Inst., State Chancellery Finland Act on the Statutes of Finland 188/2000 business business company, venture owner: the State M. of Justice France Decree of Directorate, 20th February, Prime 2004 Minister’s Services Germany Constitution Greece Department, State Budget M. of Justice 5 Official Journal 6 separate publications 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 subscriptions, no as single, Internet electronic & printed version 1 week, sometimes 2-3 days external Printing House electronic & printed version 2 hours only 3 paper Publishing copies House only summaries own Printing Office House no no Bulletin des Juridat Adjudications portal by the seven Parliaments Internet together in the Official Journal publications of the Supr. Court separate volumes subscriptions, no as single electronic & printed version 3 days Commercial Bulletin Coll. of Decisions and Standpoints website of the Parliament, chamber presses subscriptions, yes as single electronic version max. 30 days above 10 pages external Printing House M. of Inter. “Ministerial- – tidende” Danish Weekly Law Reports Retsinformation subscriptions, partly Internet electronic & printed version 1 week, urgent case: 1 day M. of Justice no Appendix Websites of State bodies Decisions of the Supreme Court website of the Parliament Internet, eRT subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version 7-10 working own Printing Publishing days Department House no together Public Publications Official Procurement of the Courts Gazette Magazine Edilex Internet, Edilex subscriptions Service electronic version min. 3 days external Printing House no separate bulletins Bulletin of Public Procurement Tenders Bulletin of Decisions of Criminal Court / of Civil Court website of the Assemblée nationale, Sénat Internet, Legifrance subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version min. 1 day own Printing the Printing House House Ltd., resp. mainly Federal from own M. of Justice revenues in separate bulletins Numerous bulletins + Internet separate journals + Official Digests Bundestagsund Bundesratsdrucksachen Internet, no subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version 2 days external Printing House partly by the distributor Publishing of the OJ House of EU Presidential Decree 188/1996. Act 301 Office, M. of Interior State Budget together “Issue B” Supreme Special Court Issue by the Parliament Internet, – subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version min. 1 day the Office the Office Hungary Constitution, Act on Legislation No. 11/1987 Ltd., owner: State, resp. Prime Minister’s Office own revenues partly together Bulletin Repertory of Public of Court Procurements decisions website of the Parliament subscriptions, yes as single, Internet electronic & printed version min. 1 day own Printing the House Publishing House directory of Com. legislation Ireland – Office of – Public Works together on the Internet separate publications website Oireachtas subscriptions, no as single, Internet electronic & printed version – – – no Italy extensive regulation Bureau State Budget No. 3, M. of Justice partly together in the Official Journal separate publications Publishing subscriptions, – House of the as single, Parliament Internet electronic & printed version min. 2 days external Printing House the Printing House the directory of Com. legislation 74 partly together State Budget budget resources Justel Publishing House 14 Parliament external Printing House authorities no distributor of the OJ of EU no 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 12 electronic & printed version 2-3 days external Printing House Publishing House no subscriptions, yes as sigle, Internet electronic & printed version – external Printing House the Publishing House no by the Parliament Internet yes electronic & printed version accord. to urgency external Printing House Publishing House + Ministries no by the Parliament Internet, no subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version various Government Printing Press Office of the Attorney Gen. no Gazette “Monitor for Public Polski” Procurements Parl. Journal Parl. Chronicle Internet, yes subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version 12 hours Service Centre for the Pres. Office of the Gov. Publishing House no together Second Serie – Official Journal “Diárió da Internet, no Assembleia subscriptions, da República” as single electronic & printed version 5-8 working days own Printing Publishing House House no Editing is financed from State Budget together – Internet Internet Internet, yes subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version within 15 days External Printing House M. of Justice no business venture together Websites of State bodies Official Gazette Website of the National Assemb. Internet, yes subscriptions electronic & printed version 1-4 working days external Printing House Publishing House Public own organisation, resources M. of Presidency yes in the Official Journal Section IV. Separate Internet, yes publ. of BOE subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version 1-3 days own Printing Printing House House no Act of Publication Office, State Budget M. of Justice separate bulletins OJ of EU separate publications by the Parliament Internet, yes subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version 1 week external Printing House Office no The Netherlands Publication Law Ltd., owner: the State together Saatscourant Website Of Dutch Court Organis. “Handelingen” Internet, – subscriptions, as single electronic & printed version min. 2 days external Printing House Publishing House no United Kingdom – Her Majesty’s State Budget Stationery Office, Cabinet Office in separate publications – separate publications Parliamentary Internet, – Tracker subscriptions, as single – – The Stationery Office – European Tracker, distributor Law on Ltd., owner own revenues together Enforcement State, of Legal Acts M. of Justice on the website of Public Procurement Office weekly supplement to the State Gazette Lithuania Law on Publishig State Budget Procedure of House of the Publication Parliament together Chapter VII. – the Decisions “Seimas of the Const. Chronicle” Court Luxemburg Constitution together – – Malta Constitution, Department Interpretation of Act Information together in the Official Journal Internet separate publications Poland Act on the Publication of Legal Acts and Certain Provisions Legislative State Budget, partly Centre of the subscription together Government fees KPRM Portugal Constitution business company, owner: State business venture Slovakia Act 1/1993 Z. z. Department of Publications, M. of Justice Slovenia Act & Reg. on the Official Gazette of the Rep. of Slov. business company, majority owner: State Spain Decree of the Presidency of the Gov. 1511/1986 Sweden Latvia Central State Budget Legislat. Office, Prime Minister’s Office State Budget 75 business venture 8 9 State Gazette subscriptions, no as single, Internet 10 13 14 no NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES